Others have said that the viewing figures are higher for this compared to the standard version.

Doubt it has been cancelled, maybe they will revert back to that version if the ratings for this get too low.

Hate this programme.

Used to quite like 8 out of 10 cats, but this countdown shyte is pants.

Fair enough if true.

In an ideal world for me, they'd do one series of normal Cats and one series Cats does Countdown a year and keep alternating between the two.

Same here.......I just watch the first bit up until they start the games then switch over

the mascots bit is usually quite good !

Hopefully we will have a few normal cats specials in December, like last year.

Just caught up on the last few episodes and I must say I find it annoying when the contestants play dumb, its not cute nor funny!

I actually think they try and keep it fresh by switching out the team captains, as you say its unusual for team captains to be missing so much, so I think it might be the producers trying to keep it from going stale. Though I am always disappointed when Sean isn't on.

In the case of Catherine Tate, I don't think it's an act.

So irritating, isn't it?

https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/news/226...ut_of_10_cats/

Bizarre how they're moving it to More4 to "reach a new generation of comedy fans", who the hell watches More4 more often than Channel 4?

Also interesting that Sean and Jon are staying on for the Countdown version but aren't for the standard 8 out of 10 Cats, you'd have thought with the amount that they don't bother showing up on Countdown that they're not overly fond of it

Ah well, here's hoping Aisling and Rob can bring a breath of fresh air to 8OO10C, but without Sean I do worry it's not going to be as good.

Yeah I don't get why they're moving the original to More4 either. Strange decision.

Although saying that, It could be quite deliberate to essentially expand the franchise - maybe Sean and Jon didn't have a choice about returning to the original format ?.

Anyway, Aisling Bea is a good choice as captain though, but Rob Beckett can get very annoying. I don't mind him and occasionally he can be funny, but not always.

I saw this little "gem" in the article though about the Countdown version .. *groan*

Say what you will about Rob but he's infinitely better than Joe Wilkinson so I know which 8 Out Of 10 Cats I'll be watching

Oh I have no argument about that at all

The thing is, when Wilkinson is actually a panel guest rather than "assistant", he can actually be occasionally funny. I've always liked the 'random' style of humour and he can sometimes do that reasonably well.

I didn't like Joe Wilkinson on Countdown but I recently watch series 2 of The Taskmaster and he was pretty funny and good on it, made me change my mind on him.

Althought I like Jon I'm not too fussed about him leaving. I swear I did read somewhere that his wife was expecting/given birth so maybe he just wanted a bit more spare time now?

But I don't think it's gonna be the same without Sean

I shall give it a go though and make up my mind then

Bizarre that Sean and Jon aren't doing normal. They look bored of the countdown version.

It should be the other way around. Sean and Jon on normal, Rob and Aisling on Countdown.

I would have agreed up until the '101' question.

The move to More4 does seem bizarre, it doesn't seem to fit with any of their other programming. I do like Aisling Bea and Rob Beckett so their appointments don't annoy me in the slightest.

In relation to Countdown, Joe Wilkinson returning (if as a regular) is an instant channel changer for me. He really annoys me, and I just don't find him funny. When he came on in the earlier series, it'd be the point I either turn over or start checking my phone etc.

I'd never seen any of his stand up stuff before so I searched one of his gigs on YouTube. And just the fact that he spent the first 1 and a half minutes pretending he thought a microphone stand was a finger rest, followed instantly by a joke about having to throw dog poop at a Bride because he didn't have any confetti.... I don't think I've been put off a comedian in a quicker amount of time.

Normal cats without Sean and Jon ( mainly Sean as he had been there from the start ) is dissapimting. I almost got excited.

Cats does Countdown is getting tiresome.....

I thought he was quite good on Taskmaster but the 5-minute routines he used to do on this show were mostly terrible. They usually consisted of him doing something bizarre and not much else, there were awkward silent moments with him sipping lager but very little to invoke laughter.

As much as I like Rob and Aisling, I'll be sad not to see Sean there, as he was there from the beginning, like another poster said. I like Jon but what with him being the third captain for that team, I won't miss him as much. Does anyone know what Dave Spikey is up to these days?, it seems to have gone very quiet for him on TV, he used to present that book club on Channel 4 a few years ago too.

Very surprised that it's not the other way round - new team captains on Countdown would seem to be the obvious way to freshen things up, particularly when Jon is so strong at the game at this stage, making it not that much of a contest unless he's giving deliberately stupid answers.

I guess adding More4 to the equation influenced which show they chose (or were put on, depending on how this was decided).

Oh well, it'll be good to get 8 Out of 10 Cats back for a proper run regardless.

Beckett's schtick is playing dumb so I don't see how the pretend/real ignorance thing will work as captain. Needs someone who's more aware of the news than he is and able to work it into the show without it looking too scripted. It's a big deal on Cats or MTW when he throws in some political stuff or something a bit knowledgeable and that's fine as a guest but I'm not sure it'll work as well for captain.

Let's all just be thankful Noel Fielding wasn't offered the gig at any point!